an honorable reception among all teachers; and a small annual membership fee would soon constitute a fund for the establishment of a Teachers' Journal,' as the organ of the Society."

At the Institute held in May, a committee was appointed upon the formation of a State Society. This committee, through its chairman, Mr. Theodore Bradley (of the Denman School, San Francisco), made a preliminary report, from which we select the following passages:

"To elevate the office of the teacher to the rank of a profession is not only desired by every friend of Education, but believed absolutely essential to obtain the full advantage of our school system. But the question has ever been, how may this be best accomplished? Normal Schools, Model Schools and State Institutes have their use, but they do not directly tend to establish a profession. To establish this there must be a union of effort, a uniformity of procedure, a unanimity of opinion that those institutions cannot furnish.

"To constitute a profession, there must be some fixed conditions of admittance to its privileges and honors, recognized by its followers and the community. Those conditions should be determined by the members of the profession. There should be steadfast adherence to these conditions by members, and all efforts to break through them should be met by their united, vigorous opposition. Finally, those conditions should be imposed by some public authority-as by charter.

"Now, to constitute a teacher, there must be a certain degree of knowledge, certain qualifications of character, and a certain time of experience. Without all these in good measure, no person is a teacher. In professions, the time requisite for preparation secures them from being made stepping-stones. So should it be with us."

The agitation of the matter in the Institute resulted in the appointment of a meeting in the committee room of Platt's New Music Hall, to be held immediately after the formal adjournment of the Institute on Saturday, May 9th, 1863. All gentlemen who favored the organization of a professional society of teachers were invited to be present. At that meeting Mr. Bradley was appointed chairman, and Prof. Swezey, secretary, pro tem. The objects of the meeting were formally announced from the chair, and much discussion ensued upon various questions concerning members, objects, ways, and means, etc., in which Messrs. Bradley, Pelton, Tait, Stratton, Thompson, Swezey, Graham, Myrick, Swett, Goodrich, White, and Josselyn, took part. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Bradley, A. Holmes, Swezey, Pelton, and Marks, was appointed to draw up a Constitution, and certain instructions were proposed for guidance therein. Mr. Thos. S. Myrick was appointed

corresponding secretary, pro tem. until the complete organization of the proposed society, and was authorized to sign the names of gentlemen then present who might be absent when the Constitution should be ready for signature. An adjournment for one week followed.

The second meeting for organization of the State Society was held in the High School building, in San Francisco, on Saturday evening, May 16th. Ellis H. Holmes was appointed chairman, and Bernhard Marks, secretary. Mr. Bradley, from the Committee on Constitution, presented a well-considered instrument, which was received, and the committee discharged. The proposed Constitution was then taken up, article by article, and received a very thorough discussion through this and three succeeding weekly meetings. Full reports have been preserved by the secretary for the society, which we regret we have not space to publish in this number of THE TEACHER. At the second meeting the discussion was shared by Messrs. Bradley, Leonard, Swezey, Swett, Minns, McGlynn, Pelton, and Carlton. The principal points considered were in respect to the preamble, and the qualifications of members.

The third preliminary meeting was held at the City Superintendent's office, San Francisco, May 24th, the officers of the preceding meeting retaining their seats. After the usual reading of minutes, the discussion of the Constitution was continued; the prominent points considered being the admission of County Superintendents as members ex officio, the admission of honorary members, and the appointment of an Examining Committee. The speakers this evening were Messrs. Bradley, Swezey, Carlton, Tait, Holbrook, White, McGlynn, Leonard, and Keyes.

The fourth meeting was held at the City Superintendent's office, Prof. Swezey in the chair. The subjects considered were nearly the same as at the preceding meeting, and various changes were made in the articles adopted. The speakers were Messrs. Bradley, McGlynn, Pelton, White, and Leonard.

The fifth meeting, held at the same place on the sixth of June, Dr. Dodge in the chair, completed the preliminary work, by the final adoption as a whole of the following Constitution, and the

election of officers and committees under it. We shall hear more of this society during the year; and we believe it will be seen in due time that no more important step than this has ever been taken by the teachers of any State towards the elevation of their work to an equality with the other professions.

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY.

PREAMBLE.

We, as teachers of California, in order to further the educational interests of the State; to give efficiency to our school system; to furnish a practical basis for united action among those devoted to the cause in which we are engaged, and, for those purposes, to elevate the office of the teacher to its true rank among the professions, do hereby adopt the following

CONSTITUTION.

NAME.

SECTION 1. This organization shall be known as the "CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY."

MEMBERS.

SEC. 2. The qualification of members shall be a good moral character; three years successful experience, one of which must have been in this State, and ability to pass a thorough examination in Reading, Spelling, Penmanship, Drawing, Object-Teaching, Geography, Grammar, History, Arithmetic, Algebra, Physiology, and Natural Philosophy.

SEC. 3. This society shall consist of male members only.

SEC. 4. All male graduates of State Normal Schools in the United States, who have taught three years previous to their application for admission to this society, and who are residents of this State, and all male holders of State Educational Diplomas, as provided by the laws of California, shall be eligible to membership upon the recommendation of the Examining Committee.

DUES.

SEC. 5. Each member, upon his election, shall sign this Constitution, and pay into the treasury the sum of ten dollars.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

SEC. 6. Honorary membership may be conferred upon any gentleman eminent for literary attainments, or for successful service in the cause of popular education, upon the recommendation of the Examining Committee, and a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting.

EXPULSION.

SEC. 7. Any member may be expelled for unprofessional conduct by a two

1863.]

California Educational Society.

thirds vote of members present at any regular meeting; provided, that a copy of the charges be deposited with the Recording Secretary at least four weeks before the meeting at which the charges are acted upon, and immediate notice thereof be given to the accused.

OFFICERS.

SEC. 8. The officers of this Society shall be, a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at a regular annual meeting, and shall hold their offices for one year, or until their successors be chosen.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

SEC. 9. The duties of the President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer shall be the same as those usually devolving upon such officers. The duty of the Corresponding Secretary shall be to conduct the correspondence of the society under the direction of the Executive Committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

SEC. 10. There shall be an Executive Committee, which shall be composed of the officers of the current year, together with five other members of the society, to be elected at each annual meeting, and to hold their offices for one year.

EXAMINING COMMITTEE.

SEC. 11. There shall be an Examining Committee of three members, who shall be elected out of six members nominated for that purpose by the Executive Committee the three nominees having the highest number of votes to be considered elected.

DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.

SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to manage the general business of the society, to examine the accounts of the Treasurer, and audit all claims upon the treasury.

It shall be the duty of the Examining Committee to inquire into and determine upon the qualifications of candidates for membership, and to report to the society at its next regular meeting.

VOTING.

SEC. 13. All voting upon admission to the society, or upon matters pertaining to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be by ballot.

SEC. 14. A two-thirds vote of members present at any regular meeting shall be sufficient to elect a candidate proposed by the Examining Committee.

PROXY.

SEC. 15. Members may vote either in person or by proxy; provided, that the proxy be made known in writing to the Recording Secretary.

MEETINGS.

SEC. 16. There shall be a regular annual meeting of the society on the third Saturday of May in each year, in the city of San Francisco, or at such other time and place as may be appointed by the President with the consent of the Executive Committee; but, in case a quorum be not present at that time, the officers shall hold over another year, or until their successors be chosen.

SEC. 17. There shall be a meeting of the society at least once in three months, for the purpose of promoting the interests of Education in all its departments.

The exercises at these meetings may be determined by the President in conjunction with the Executive Committee.

CHARACTER OF DISCUSSIONS.

SEC. 18. No political or sectarian discussions shall be allowed in the meetings of this society.

ASSESSMENTS.

SEC. 19. Assessments may be made from time to time at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of members present.

DIPLOMAS.

SEC. 20. Every member of this society shall be entitled to a diploma in such form as the Executive Committee shall decide upon, and under the official seal and signature of the society; but no diplomas shall be issued to honorary members.

AMENDMENTS.

SEC. 21. After the close of the second annual meeting of this society, this Constitution shall not be altered or amended, except by a vote of three-fourths of the members present at an annual meeting, and after one month's previous notice in THE CALIFORNIA TEACHER, or some other suitable medium.

President-JOHN SWETT.

Vice-Presidents-THOMAS S. MYRICK, D. C. STONE.

Corresponding Secretary-T. C. LEONARD.

Recording Secretary-BERNHARD MARKS.

Treasurer-J. C. PELTON.

Executive Committee-The officers of the society, and Messrs. SwEZEY, STRATTON, MCGLYNN, WHITE, and GOODRICH.

Examining Committee-Messrs. SwETT, TAIT, and LEONARD.

[For The California Teacher.]

A FEW HINTS ON SPELLING.

As spelling constitutes one of the chief studies in our schools, and one which is pursued through nearly all the grades, it is evidently recognized as one of no small importance. Moreover, the practical necessity of spelling is felt by all after their school days are over, whatever may be their occupation in life; and yet how often do we find errors in spelling even over the signatures of teachers themselves!

It is true that much of the misspelling which is so common is to be attributed to the anomalous structure of the language itself; but there is no doubt that there would be much less were a more rational system of teaching this branch more generally in vogue.